YOUTUBE has banned Donald Trump’s account and deleted his most recent video as part of sweeping crackdowns on the US President by tech giants following last week’s deadly assault on the US Capitol.
The California company said the move, which blocks Trump from uploading videos to its platform, was made “in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence”.
5
Trump will be unable to upload anything “for a minimum of seven days”, a spokesperson said.
Content uploaded to the account on Tuesday was taken down for violating YouTube’s policies on inciting violence.
“After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence,” the spokesperson said.
“Under the suspension, Trump’s channel is temporarily prevented from uploading new videos or live streams for at least seven days, although the channel remains live.”
5
Comments would be indefinitely disabled on the channel, YouTube said.
Under YouTube’s policies, a second strike would result in a two-week suspension, while a third strike would get the account banned permanently.
Tech firms are clamping down on Trump and violent sections of his supporters ahead of inauguration day next week.
Capitol cops fear that potentially dangerous protests at the event in Washington, D.C. on January 20 could lead to more bloodshed.
The move to curtail Trump’s social media activity comes after a mob of his supporters, urged on by the President, stormed the Capitol last week to try to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
Tech companies have moved to suspend Trump’s online postings, with Facebook and Instagram suspending Trump at least until the end of his term and Twitter permanently banning his account.
Other sites including Reddit and Snapchat have also banned Trump. Online shopping platform Shopify has pulled Trump stores off its platform.
Companies like Apple and Google have also moved to ban Parler, a social networking site popular among Trump supporters, from their app stores.
Parler’s site also went offline this week after Amazon ceased to provide hosting services to the company.
Experts praised YouTube for the ban, describing it as a “necessary first step” to curtailing Trump’s violent rhetoric.
“A minimum of seven days is an important and necessary first step by YouTube, and we hope they will make it permanent,” said Jim Styer, CEO of media rating firm Common Sense Media.
“While it is disappointing that it took a Trump-incited attack on our Capitol to get here, it appears that all the major platforms are finally beginning to step up and take this important issue seriously and that policymakers and the public are committed to holding them accountable,” he said.
What happened at Capitol Hill?
5
Violent protests erupted in Washington DC on Wednesday, January 6 with hundreds of protesters storming Capitol Hill in unprecedented scenes.
The riots erupted after Trump told supporters to prevent President Elect Joe Biden’s election win being certified: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol.
“And we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.
“And we’re probably not going to be cheering, so much for some of them, because you’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong.”
He added: “They’re not taking this White House, we’re gonna fight like hell.”
As the protesters charged into the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi‘s, office, lawmakers were evacuated and staffers ordered to take emergency bags with food, water and gas marks as they fled the building.
Trump later posted on Twitter, urging protesters to stay “peaceful” but stopped short of telling them to leave.
5
He said: “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence!”
Trump eventually released a video telling those that sieged the building to “go home” – as he still made unbacked claims of fraud and told demonstrators they were “special”.
Meanwhile, the vice-President Mike Pence told anyone involved in the protests to head home.
Ashli Babbitt, 35, was shot dead and Roseanne Boyland, 34, Kevin Greeson, 55, and Benjamin Phillips, 50, died after suffering “medical emergencies”.
Police Officer Brian D Sicknick was also killed.
Following the dispersal of the protestors hours after they breached Capitol Hill, Mr Trump chillingly told “patriots” to “remember this day forever”.
The outgoing US President’s reckless actions were condemned by political leaders across the globe.
Home Secretary Priti Patel slammed Trump for making comments which “directly” led to the violence.
5
Speaking to BBC Breakfast last week, Ms Patel denounced the US President for egging on protesters who forced their way into the Capitol, smashing glass and running freely through building.
She blasted: “His comments directly led to the violence and so far he has failed to condemn that violence, and that is completely wrong.
“Let’s be very clear in terms of the scenes in Washington, and the display of violence, (Trump) has made a number of comments that helped to fuel that violence.”
She added: “I just think there is no scope for violence whatsoever, and it’s just appalling in terms of what we’ve seen.
“America needs to move on, and have the transition (to the next President) that is absolutely essential – and the type of transition that America is famous for.”
Capitol police are now erecting a seven-foot unscalable fence ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, where right-wing extremists are expected to protest once again.
What was the first YouTube video?
Here’s what you need to know…
- YOUTUBE’S first-ever video was uploaded 15 years ago – on April 23, 2005.
- It was a clip posted by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, marking the beginning of the website’s rapid and unstoppable rise to internet dominance.
- The video is titled “Me at the zoo”, and is geo-tagged to San Diego.
- In the clip, Karim gives a short speech to camera in very low video quality by today’s standards.
- He’s standing in a zoo talking about elephants, who can be seen in the background.
- YouTube’s inaugural video has now been viewed more than 90.2million times.
- It’s received nearly 3million likes and has racked up more around 5.3million comments.
- Karim met fellow YouTube co-founders Steven Chen and Chad Hurley while working at PayPal.
- The trio went on to create YouTube, although Karim was officially an adviser to the site – rather than being an employee.
- He remained relatively unknown until Google purchased YouTube in 2006.
- Karim received 137,443 shares of stock, which was worth roughly $64million at the time.
- Watch the clip here.
FBI probes Capitol ‘sedition and conspiracy’ and warns HUNDREDS more will be charged as they hunt MAGA rioters
ENOUGH TALK
How to download WhatsApp chat history and delete your account
I-HELP
Samsung’s ROBOT butler lays your table, pours you a beer and cleans the dishes after
ZOOM OUT
Genius Zoom app lets you fake a bad connection to avoid boring work calls
ROLL UP
New ‘LG Rollable’ phone has screen that GROWS like magic – turning it into a tablet
HIGH SPEED
Virgin Media launches WiFi pods to boost web speeds in household blackspots
MINI ME
Cheap new ‘small’ iPhone ‘coming in APRIL’ for under £400, insiders claim
In other news, Facebook says it is working “24/7” to mass-delete posts containing the phrase “stop the steal” ahead of inauguration day next week.
TikTok has banned videos of Trump inciting the mob at Capitol Hill as part of sweeping moves by tech firms to crack down on the US President.
And, Twitch axed one of its most popular emotes last week following reckless comments about the protests made by the star of the image.
What do you think of YouTube’s ban? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
